Britain agrees to deploy troops to Kuwait

05/07/2018

File Photo: British soldiers lower the Union Jack during a handover ceremony before their military withdrawal from the Camp Bastion-Leatherneck complex at Lashkar Gah in Helmand province on October 26, 2014. AFP

KUWAIT CITY, July 5: A senior diplomatic source has confirmed Britain’s agreement to deploy troops to Kuwait following a joint steering committee meeting last week during the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid to the United Kingdom, reports Annahar daily The same source added that Britain welcomes the Kuwaiti request and details of the pact are to be discussed later.

He noted the troops will most likely be deployed at the end of this year. The British media revealed that the United Kingdom is considering a request for a limited military presence in Kuwait, indicating the country’s interest in deploying an additional force.

In this context, British Ambassador to Kuwait Michael Davenport said in an interview with the British military network that the size of the troops will not be huge and “We are looking at all options available for that, noting security relations is the pillar of bilateral relations between the two countries”. The ambassador stressed that “sending a British military force to Kuwait would be part of the joint defense cooperation between the two countries, known as the Joint Steering Committee”.

He described the security relations between London and Kuwait as “pivotal” in the framework of bilateral friendship that has been going on for 120 years. Ties between both countries are age-old.

In the late 19th century, Kuwait’s then ruler Mubarak Al-Sabah felt worried about foreign ambitions, mainly from the Ottoman empire. In 1889, he sealed a protection treaty with Britain that became committed to defending Kuwait against any foreign attack.

The Kuwaiti-British links grew after oil was discovered in Kuwait in the 1930s. In 1961 the Anglo-Kuwaiti pact was annulled, establishing Kuwait as a sovereign, independent state. Relations between the two countries deepened in the aftermath of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Britain was a main partner to the US-led military alliance that liberated Kuwait from the Iraqi invaders the following year